Art History Assignment: Les Automatistes vs. Painters Eleven in Canada

This essay delves into the art movements of Les Automatistes and Painters Eleven, pivotal groups that reshaped the art landscape in Canada. Les Automatistes, based in Montreal, championed automatism, a technique emphasizing the unconscious mind, challenging traditional artistic themes and societal norms with their manifesto, Refus Global. Simultaneously, Painters Eleven in Toronto, led by Jack Bush and Harold Town, introduced and popularized abstract art, influenced by American trends, gaining critical acclaim and expanding art exhibitions across Canada. Both groups, breaking away from conventional landscape-focused art, embraced new techniques and visual expressions, fundamentally influencing modern and postmodern art. Their contributions, including the emphasis on color, structure, and unconscious influences, are still recognized and celebrated in prominent art galleries, showcasing their lasting impact on the Canadian art scene and the evolution of visual arts.

Running head: ART HISTORY
ART HISTORY
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1ART HISTORY
Art is mostly defined as the process of arranging elements in such a way which
appeals to the emotions or the senses of people. Art is seen to encompass a diverse and a
wide range of activities, expression and creations like paintings, sculptures, literature and
many more. Art has always had a huge influence on the society since its inception. There
have been several artists who had challenged the monotony and had introduced new form of
art in the society which is still being taught in art schools and have been used in the current
art forms as well. This paper will shed a light on Les Automatistes and Painters Eleven and
show who they rebelled against the mainstream society and had ushered a new form of
painting in Canada.
Automatism is commonly referred to technique of creating subconscious drawings in
which the painter or the artists allows their unconscious mind to take full control.
Automatism had garnered immense popularity in the 20th century by the Surrealist artists who
had unleashed creative forces of unconscious in art. According to scholars, automatic
painting and drawing was viewed as a means to escape from the intellectual, historical and
cultural constraints and unlock the simple and basic creativity that were lodged within the
personality of the artist deeply and was highly influenced by the concepts of Sigmund Freud
(Johnson, 2019). Automatic and drawing to the Surrealist artists represented more noble type
of behavior which was a different type of attitude unlike the ones that were expressed and
stated by the followers of the Outsider Art for whom education and culture was just some
kind of unique and creative straitjacket.
Automatism has seen to have played a huge role in various other movements and one
of them is the Canadian group which was known as Les Automatistes which came into
existence in the late 1940s. The most famous and popular painters that were associated with
this type of art were Jackson Pollock and Salvador Dali. Since the introduction of
Automatism, it has become an integral part of modern as well as the postmodern art.

2ART HISTORY
The slaughter and the carnage of the First World War has resulted in the lack of
confidence in the bourgeois morality. It had triggered the anti-art movement which was
popularly known as Dada which soon led to their own demise. The came many other
movements and the most notable one was the group Les Automatistes. Les Automatistes
came into existence between the years 1946 and 1951 which was a group that was created by
the Canadian painters who were based in Montreal, Quebec, which included Albert
Dumouchel Jean-Paul Riopelle, Jean Paul Mousseau and Paul-Emile Borduas who were see
to practice automatism (Belshaw, 2016). This group had created an outrage during their time
with their publication of their manifesto in the year 1948 which was the Refus Global which
meant total refusal which was seen to attack the various aspects of the culture in Canada
especially the Church.
Les Automatistes had brought major changes to the type of art that was practiced in
Canada. Earlier the central theme of arts revolved around landscape however in Quebec the
art became more theoretical in comparison to the arts in the other provinces. Les
Automatistes had dominated the art scene in Canada with automatism. They soon put
emphasis on colour and structure and made the art more visual. The techniques that were
used in the art form were grattage, frottage and decalcomania and were influenced by
movements that were unconscious which were caused by hypnosis, dreams and many more.
Since then its use can be seen in modern art who emphasize on psychic art.
Similar trends were seen in Toronto during the 1950s where the group named Painters
Eleven was formed which was led by Jack Bush and Harold Town and this group highly
promoted abstract art. Abstract act was then practiced in America and had gained immense
popularity in New York and it was Painters Eleven who introduced the concept of abstract art
to the Canadians and has a huge role to play to bring this type of art into the mainstream
(Welch, 2019).

3ART HISTORY
Painters Eleven had become very successful in Canada as they had introduced the
new form of art to the society and they had gained critical appreciation and love for their
artwork. The press and several international critics had supported this group and had praised
their work which led to them to have exhibitions which helped them in showcasing their
work and become more popular with their work and the art shows.
In the year, 1960 the Painters Eleven had voted to disband as they felt that the goals
and aspirations they had before forming the group and collaborating had been achieved and
met and there were several public and commercial galleries that had exhibited their work
which had led them to become the recognized leaders in Canada in the local art scene. The
paintings that were painted by them is still popular and their works can still be seen in the
National Gallery of Canda, Robert Mclaughlin Galler and in the Art Gallery of Ontario which
showcase some important collections which had become very famous back then.
Les Automatistes and Painters Eleven were two revolutionary groups that had
contributed to the change in the art scene in Canada. They were the pioneers of automatism
which had become very popular during their time because of the new art form as previously
main focus of the artworks revolved around a central theme which were landscape. Both
these groups is seen to have broken the monotony and brought a new concept in art which
was much appreciated. Their artwork influenced the use of the unconscious mind which is
being used till date as there is always a mention of this era and the two groups when talked
about automatiste technique The arts that were introduced by these groups later came to be
known as visual arts which has gained more popularity in the modern day and is seen to be
used widely.

4ART HISTORY
Reference
Belshaw, J. D. (2016). 10.13 Modern Culture. Canadian History: Post-Confederation.
Johnson, E. H. (2019). Modern art and the object: a century of changing attitudes. Routledge.
Welch, A. D. S. (2019). Borderline Research: Histories of Art between Canada and the
United States, c. 1965–1975 (Doctoral dissertation).